South Carolina hosts skidding Marshall on Monday

I.J. Ready and Colin Borchert hit free throws down the stretch Saturday to help Mississippi State pull away late with a 76-72 win over Ole Miss.

I.J. Ready and Colin Borchert hit free throws down the stretch Saturday to help Mississippi State pull away late with a 76-72 win over Ole Miss.

(RNN) - South Carolina has some momentum going into Monday night'shome game against Marshall (5-7). The Gamecocks are fresh off a 78-45demolition of Akron, its second straight win over the Zips, whom they defeatedin the Diamond Head Classic 69-59 on Christmas Day. After a rocky start, USC(5-6) has won three of its last four games.

The Thundering Herd is in a slump, having lost five of theirlast six, most recently an 83-82 home loss to Arkansas State.

Marshall is hitting 48 percent of its shots and scoringabout 86 points per game.

The Gamecocks play tough defense and produce balancedscoring – the leading scorer, Sindarium Thornwell, only hits 11.7 points pergame. Tyrone Johnson scores 10.6 ppg and six other Gamecocks average more than5 points per game.